A very strange girl was blown by a tornado to the wondrous land of Oz....
but the REALLY strange thing is that she's still in Kansas!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Berroco, "Zariski", Peaches and Me.....

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(You can click on pics to enlarge)

The hook brings you back,I ain't telling you no lie,The hook....On that you can rely...("Hook", Blues Traveler)

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I have good news to report. I'm going to start "Zariski" anew!Remember I had found what I thought were confusing instructions for the "Zariski" garment in the Berroco Booklet 319? And that I had ruined some Egyptian cotton in an effort to fix something I knitted incorrectly on my version of "Zariski" due to said instructions? (Link here.)Well, as you know from that blog post, I took my complaints to Berroco.... I both phoned and emailed. And I was rather insistent---I was probably a complete pest---yes, I was a complete pest---but Berroco heard my pain! And their Customer Service Department did something I would never ever have suspected....After clarifying the part of the garment instructions I considered confusing, they then sent me the featured yarn in the booklet--- "Linsey"--- in order for me to complete a "Zariski" with the correct yarn!YES THEY DID!!! Isn't it great?!?!?

OMG! Berroco's "Linsey" is a yarn in which plies of cotton and linen are twisted together. It is wonderfully soft and drapes beautifully. There are many gorgeous colorways but it also comes in coordinating solids.So, as you can see in the picture above, I have everything ready. It is the way in which I always begin a new knitting project: a watchful cat, a large Baggie to hold needles and stitch markers, a notepad & pen, and the yarn. I wound every hank into a cake---and I totally love the beautiful colors of the colorway they sent me. The colors remind me of a forest ablaze with vividly colored flowers.(Good Lord, have you noticed how big and fat Peaches is getting? She's bigger than Lu-Lu even though she's weeks younger.)And here again are the two pics of the garment "Zariski", designed by Norah Gaughan, from the Berocco Booklet 319 (link here):

(Also note on the webpage of the boooklet that Berocco also provides their booklets in downloadable ebooks form.)Anyway, I'm rather excited to begin. When Berocco surprised me with the yarn, I solemnly declared to them that I would knit "Zariski" as best as I could---so I could do them proud---and that I would chronicle my progress on the blog.Berocco has totally convinced me that they are an extremely classy and professional company---and thus, in the future, I am going to use their products as much as I can in order to thank them for their kindness and great Customer Service. Not to mention the fact that their products are totally wonderful---you should see the Linsey yarn!

Heh.....notice how close Peaches sits to my yarn container? It's driving her crazy because she can see the yarn through the clear plastic of that bag, but she can't get at it.

(It would be like if I saw a clear container holding IHOP pancakes and couldn't get to them....)Anyhoo, I will keep you posted on my progress knitting "Zariski"!*

Our girl-cat would be inside that container in a hot minute! She is forever climbing inside my knitting bag whether she actually fits or not. And once, when my husband was packing for a business trip she climbed in his duffle bag. If I am packing for a trip, I have to zip up my suitcase, because just closing the lid isn't sufficient to keep her out! I always make sure and get an eyeball on both cats before we go on a trip to make sure that they are not in one of the suit cases, trapped in one of the walk-in closets or have escaped out the door while we load the vehicle. Cats, I tell ya!!

Hi Anonymous! I can definitely relate re: these rascally cats! Shortly after we first got Lu-Lu I heard Blaine saying cuss words in the kitchen---he was pulling Lu-Lu out of the dishwasher. He almost dish-washed her!

It does pay to be careful with silly cats. A doctor I used to work with said his wife had once put a load of laundry in (dumped a whole armful in) and didn't feel their tiny kitten in there. Needless to say, the kitten didn't make it. I was totally SHOCKED to hear this story. Poor little kitten!! Blaine does our laundry and checks every piece before he puts it in, looking for spots, thank goodness!